Month: June 2013

Today is the annual Canada Day celebration at Kooky Canuck. They’ll have $3 Canadian beer bottles along with $4 Forty Creek. They have 32 Canadian whiskys. They’ll also have a special Canada Day menu, including perogies, poutine, Montreal steamies, the Donair, maple sirloin steak, the Canadian burger, the Yonge Street Burger (my favorite), maple bread pudding and Nainamo bars. There will be a poutine eating contest at 2 PM. Recommended attire is Canadian colors (red and white), Canadian hockey jerseys, or tube tops. Most of that recommendation came from Shawn but I might have added something there at the end.

Yesterday I rode down the elevator with two of my neighbors. They asked if I’d been to Havana’s Pilon, the new Cuban restaurant around the corner on Madison, and I had to admit I still have not. They told me that not only are the entrees delicious, but the restaurant sells smoothies too. They recommended the passion fruit smoothie in particular.

My first stop yesterday was Bardog. Every day they have a Dog of the Day, an enormous hot dog special. Yesterday the Dog of the Day was the “Wake and Bake,” a 10 oz. all-beef hot dog, wrapped in bacon, deep-fried, and topped with curry mustard and green onions. Food porn at its finest and a heart attack on a plate.

My next stop was the Flying Saucer. They are doing their annual raffle in conjunction with Pints for Prostates. Pints for Prostates helps raise awareness of prostate cancer through the universal male language of beer. From July 3 through the 24th, every Wednesday 144 glasses will go on sale. Proceeds from the glasees will go to Pints for Prostates, and with each glass will come a raffle ticket. Winner of the raffle will get a beer trip to Belgium, Holland, and Germany September 12-22. Last year’s raffle winner was from the Memphis Saucer and was my Moody Ques BBQ teammate G-Rock. More info here.

In other Flying Saucer news, they have a new beer on tap. It’s Abita Strawtator, also known as Strawberry Andygator. It’s 8% alcohol by volume, similar to original Andygator, so this is not a beer to mess around with after you’ve already had a few. In the right state of mind, though, it is delicious.

After I left the Saucer, I went to the Silly Goose, where the day shift crew from the Saucer had gone for a drink after they got off. I joined them for a PBR on the Goose’s new patio furniture. I snapped this pic:

About 7 I decided it was “halftime” and decided to go home and take a nap before going back out. I was more tired than I realized, though, and when I woke up the clock read 2:03 AM. “The Blind Bear closes at 3, and is 2 blocks down the street. I still have time,” I thought. I put my clothes on and walked down there. That’s the beauty of living in the Downtown core, that I can do things like that. I found a couple of my poker buddies at the bar, and in the remaining 57 minutes I found time for 2 PBRs and a couple of shots of Fireball.

Not-so-random pro wrestling video of the week: Jake “The Snake” Roberts falls off the wagon. You might remember Jake from late ’80e/early ’90s WWE. He’d come to the ring with a burlap sack. After winning with his signature move, the DDT, he’d take his python Damien out of the sack and place Damien on top of his beaten opponent. In the past two decades Jake has suffered from addictions to alcohol, cocaine, and crack that nearly killed him. His friend Diamond Dallas Page, after retiring from wrestling, started a second career teaching DDP Yoga. DDP invited Jake to move in with him, calling his house The House of Accountability. Wrestler/addict Scott Hall also moved in. For 8 months Jake was completely clean and doing the right things to get his life back together. However, in late June he had a road trip where he had some drinks. Jake turns into a completely different person when drunk, a sure sign of an alcoholic. Back at The House of Accountability, DDP dressed Jake down. “When you drink, you turn into THAT GUY. And THAT GUY sucks to live with.” After talking to Jake’s therapist and recovering alcoholics, DDP came up with a plan to get “The Snake” back on the right track: 90 meetings in 90 days. Not, “well Jake, it’s OK if you have a drink now and then, but only a little.” Hardcore is the only plan that will work. If anyone reading this blog sees a little of themselves in Jake, perhaps they should attend daily AA meetings too, while separating themselves from the environment that leads to bad decisions.

Getting ready to head to the Majestic for brunch, with a stop at Canada Day at some point in the afternoon. Beautiful, cooler weather outside today. Let’s enjoy this last day of June.

The past couple of weeks I’ve been kind of stressed out. My car registration expires in June, and the car had a broken parking brake. It wouldn’t pass until I got that fixed, and since the car is a Saturn I can’t just take it to the dealership because there are no more Saturn dealerships.

I got on eBay, found the part, and bought it. I had it in hand Monday, which was cutting it awful close because I only had this week to get the car through inspection. “No problem, though,” I thought. “Get it fixed Tuesday, run it through inspection Wednesday, and if it fails emissions (which it never has) fix it Thursday and go back to inspection Friday.” For those not familiar with Memphis inspections, you can’t get your car inspected at licensed garages. You have to wait in line at one of four city inspection centers. I’ll say more about this later.

Tuesday I took the part to Gateway near where I work, and while I was there I decided to go ahead and get some other much needed work done too: an alignment, new brakes, and an oil change. About an hour later they called me and said they couldn’t fix the parking brake and I needed to take it to a dealer. Since there are no more Saturn dealers they recommended Jimmy Gray Chevrolet near where I work. I told them to go ahead and do the other stuff, and I’d take the car to Jimmy Gray on Wednesday. That gave me Thursday to get the car inspected, again closer to the end of the month than I’d like. But I figured, if it fails I’ll get it fixed Friday and run it through inspection again Saturday.

Jimmy Gray got the parking brake fixed (both Jimmy Gray and Gateway were courteous and professional, by the way). Thursday I got to the inspection station at 7 AM and was second in line. The lady did all the tests, printed out a sheet of paper, and told me, “Sir, you passed everything else but you failed emissions. You’re slightly over on hydrocarbons. What you need to do is get that taken care of and come back to us.” Dammit. I did not want to spend Saturday in an inspection line.

Then she paused for a minute and continued, “However…… city inspections end tomorrow. So what you could do is just go get your tags on Monday (July 1).”

“So you’re saying I don’t really need to get this fixed?” I asked. She smiled and nodded. I drove on to Horn Lake, relieved, arriving at work 35 minutes early. About 11 the city sent out the official email saying the inspection stations were closing.

So Monday I’ll walk down to Washington Avenue and get my tags. I will get the emissions thing fixed at some point, because it’s surely not good for my car’s engine to be running with all that gunk inside it. However, I will get my tags first and drive to the service center in a legally licensed car. Now that MPD has those scanners on top of some of their cars that can read license plates, I don’t want to be driving around with expired tags for even part of a day.

I want to send my condolences to those who were laid off at the inspection centers. No matter what you do, it sucks to have your job pulled out from under you. I’ve been there. I wish you well and hope you land on your feet.

However… I am THRILLED that the inspections are gone. Memphis had the stupidest way of doing vehicle inspections in the country, and possibly in the world. You have to wait in line for sometimes an hour or more, while your car builds up emissions as it idles that could cause it to fail. (And in my case, I wait in the scorching June heat. At least ladies can wear a tube top to inspection and keep cool.) If you fail, you have to spend a second day going to get the car fixed, and a third day getting re-inspected. I suppose you could condense all that into one day, but when you have a job it’s hard to do that without taking vacation. Sitting in inspection line and in a service center’s waiting room is NOT a vacation.

For six months I lived in the state with the tightest emissions standards in the country, California. Right after I moved there I had to get the car inspected. I drove three blocks up the street and left my car with a licensed mechanic on Ingraham Boulevard in San Diego. He told me the inspection would take 35-40 minutes, so I gave him my phone number and walked up to World Curry on Garnet Avenue for lunch (that’s a restaurant concept I would love to see in Downtown Memphis). As I was eating, the mechanic called and told me I’d passed and could come get the car.

What if I had failed? The mechanic would have fixed the problem then and there and re-inspected. One day spent on inspection even if the car failed. Not three. And there were dozens of state-licensed mechanics all over town, so no one had to drive more than a mile to get it done.

I grew up in Arkansas and it handled inspections the same way as California (I assume it still does). I work in Mississippi and my co-workers who live there tell me it’s handled that way too.

Those who defend Memphis’ inspection system might say, you have to do it that way to test for emissions. Um, once again, I lived in CALIFORNIA and they found a way for licensed mechanics to apply the toughest emissions test in the country. If California can do it, why can’t Tennessee?

If inspections are ever brought back by the city, county, or state, I hope they bulldoze those inspection stations and go the licensed-mechanic route. I know the new Appling station won awards, but still. It’s like the city leaders, when they planned how inspections would work, thought, “How can we cause the maximum possible inconvenience to our citizens?”

As I said, I will go get the emissions problem looked at soon. But on Monday, I’ll be a proud polluter with 2014 tags.

If you’re looking for something fun to do with your kids tomorrow, bring them to AutoZone Park for a special Nickelodeon Day with the Redbirds. Game time has been moved to 1:35 PM. Contestants will be slimed, pied and watered during half-inning breaks, reminiscent of shows You Can’t Do That on Television and Figure It Out. Jeff Sutphen of Figure It Out will host the day’s events. Kids, if you’ve always wanted to be covered in green slime, this is your chance. The ‘birds will play the Albuquerque Isotopes.

Fun fact: The Isotopes derived their name from an episode of The Simpsons.

If you plan on cooking out for the 4th, Double J can help. They have full slabs of ribs (no sides) for $22.50, and whole butts $4.50 a pound (approximately $35-40 each). They have other items too, so swing by and talk to them if you want some good BBQ to celebrate our independence.

The Silly Goose finally got its new patio furniture in. I didn’t get by there yesterday to take a pic, but the furniture is very lounge-y, much like what’s on the patio at Bluefin. The ladies will look good lounging on the patio in tube tops.

A group has promised to donate $100,000 to MIFA as soon as the organization raises $200,000. Can you help? More info here.

My BBQ team captain, who is an attorney, sent me this job posting. It’s long so I’m just going to copy and paste.

MBA Seeking Communications Director

MBA Communications Director Dottie McCallen will be leaving the MBA at the end of July, and the MBA is currently seeking applications from individuals interested in serving as part-time Communications Director for the association. The responsibilities of the MBA Communications Director include but are not limited to the design and management of Memphis Lawyer magazine, the bimonthly magazine of the MBA; the design and timely dissemination of the weekly MBA Bar Bulletin and the quarterly Young Lawyers’ Appeal enewsletters; the marketing of all MBA events, conferences and seminars, including the design of related print and online materials; the management of the MBA website, www.memphisbar.org, including updating and creating pages and graphics and working with an outside web developer to coordinate major changes; and overseeing the MBA social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Qualified candidates should hold a bachelor’s degree preferably in journalism or public relations or with 5+ years experience in these fields and have extensive knowledge of Adobe InDesign and Photoshop; working knowledge of HTML code and extensive experience with web editing; and excellent writing and editing skills, publishing experience preferred. Other qualifications include extensive knowledge of Microsoft Office software (i.e., Excel, PowerPoint); experience in e-communications and/or familiarity with e-marketing etiquette and laws; and familiarity with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and a good understanding of how the MBA can utilize them to grow its value and membership.
Those interested in this position should submit a resume to afritz@memphisbar.org.

Plans for today: It’s my work’s annual company picnic at the zoo, an opportunity to meet everyone’s kids. It’s possible I may make a wrong turn and end up at Bardog rather than the zoo.

The NBA draft was last night, and while the Grizzlies didn’t have any first-round picks, they made some moves in the second. The Flyer’s Chris Herrington has an excellent analysis. The biggest move is that we dealt Darrell Arthur to Denver. In return, we got an asset we desperately needed, Kosta Koufos, a true center. Koufos will allow Marc Gasol to get some rest on the bench when he needs it. Koufos started 81 games for Denver last season.

In breaking Grizzlies news, it looks like Jerryd Bayless will be back next year. I bet Meg is jumping up and down with joy right now. Hopefully in a tube top.

Also, D.J. Stephens will play on the Miami Heat’s NBA summer league team. He has not been drafted by any NBA team as of yet.

South Main Trolley Night is tonight, with many galleries and shops open until 9 or later. There are several special events. One is a closing reception for George Hunt’s “Memphis – Still the Blues” show at d’Edge, as well as a celebration of Mr. Hunt’s 73rd birthday. Miss Birdsong’s Sweet Tooth Candy Company will have a booth at Main and Nettleton. There will also be illustrators and silk-screen artists doing demos, and the Amurica photo booth will be in the area. There will also be several shops and galleries with live music.

MPD is considering moving its headquarters out of the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center and into a building the city already owns at 128 Adams. That building served as police HQ from 1911 to 1982. I remember attending a presentation by former MPD director Larry Godwin a few years ago, and he said what a great thing it would be to have all public safety services housed together in one building. Currently those functions are scattered across the city.

The Orpheum will show 1956 John Wayne western The Searchers at 7 tonight. Before the movie at 6:30 there will be a concert by bluegrass band Blue Day.

Want to learn to fly? There’s a Groupon for Downtown Aviation. For $49 you get a 90-minute lesson with both ground school and flight time. Downtown Aviation isn’t actually Downtown, but up the road on North Second a bit. Close enough, though. For those of you who live in suburban hell Olive Branch, there’s an option to take your lesson out there too.

Plans for tonight: I’ll lead off at the Saucer, where I’ll likely drink Dos Equis Lager while being stared at by a person who has been consumed with bitterness and resentment lately. Then around the corner to celebrate a friend’s birthday at 7. (Mostly) fun times ahead for tonight.

There’s a great article with lots of info about new Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger on GrizzGrind.com. Thanks to @chrisvernonshow for tweeting it this morning. The article’s author definitely writes outside of the box, shall we say, but it’s still worth a read.

The Brass Door is having a “Rally in the Alley” outside tomorrow evening starting at 5 PM. They will have $2.50 Miller Lite, $3.50 Brass Door Red, and $4 Fireball.

5th Kind headlines tonight’s Peabody rooftop party. The buffet this week will be a mashed potato bar, and if you’re in VIP you’ll have meatloaf sliders, tater totals, and pimiento cheese spread with vegetables. The drink special this week will be Cruzan “9” spiced rum for $4.

Last week was my mother’s birthday. As a believer in shopping local, I wanted to find her something produced in Memphis. After a few minutes of pondering, I thought, “Why not send her what Memphis is most well known for – BBQ?” I got on Central BBQ’s web storefront. I poked around for a bit, then selected the Small Central BBQ Combination Pack. It came with one slab of ribs, one pound of pulled pork, one rub (I chose the rib rub) and one sauce (I chose mild). Since she really needed to be home to get the delivery, I scheduled it for last Friday rather than her birthday in case someone took her out that day. She had the pulled pork last weekend and loved it. She also shared the pork with a couple of her neighbors. She has the ribs in the freezer and I’m sure she will love them too. Keep Central in mind if you want to send someone a birthday or holiday treat.

Craig from the Memphis Que blog has an interesting post comparing The Rendezvous to Latham’s, a BBQ joint in Jackson, Tennessee. Craig does a great job dispelling the myth that The Rendezvous is the place to go for true Memphis-style ribs. For those not wanting to drive to Jackson, he recommends several local restaurants, three of which are Downtown: Central BBQ, Double J, and Cozy Corner. If you’re a tourist coming to Memphis and want the true Memphis BBQ experience, I’d recommend any of those three over Rendezvous. Craig puts it well when he says that of all the BBQ joints in Memphis, Rendezvous represents the biggest gap between hype and reality. I do disagree with one thing Craig says, though, about Blues City Cafe on Beale being a tourist trap. I like their ribs too and send tourists there all the time, especially when the tourists don’t feel up to the longer walk to Central.

RAW: Natural Born Artists presents Kaleidoscope tomorrow at Minglewood Hall. This is a showcase of local talent in the areas of art, fashion, music, film, hair, makeup, photography, and performing art.

Great news for beer lovers! Dogfish Head has announced it will return to Tennessee and several other states in 2013. A few years ago you could find delicious Dogfish Head beers including their 60 and 90 Minute IPAs and my favorite, the Midas Touch brewed from a 3000-year-old recipe. However, demand for the beer exceeded their capacity to produce it at the time, and they had to pull back. Now they have scaled up and are ready to re-enter some markets, including our state.

The Memphis Business Journal posted an article about LetsMoveDown, an app that will let you upgrade to better seats once you’re already in your seat at Grizzlies games. The really good news, though, is at the end of the article: Next season you will be able to use your phone to show tickets, rather than having to print them out or go to Will Call.

That’s it for now. I’ll probably lead off at the Silly Goose after work, in the hope that Jessica will wear another tube top.

At lunchtime I posted about a decision by the Alcoholic Beverage Commission to start enforcing a 2006 law banning infused alcohol. Now The Tennessean is reporting that the ABC has reversed that decision and will not prohibit infusions. Good call.

The Tamp and Tap Room, the new coffee and beer bar soon to open in Van Vleet Flats, reports that its baristas have been in Chicago. They’ve been training in Latte Art at Metropolis Roastery, and will soon get to show off their skills.

Prince Mongo, the spirit from the planet Zambodia who has run for mayor of Memphis on several occasions, will give his annual “State of the Mongo” address Saturday at noon. Hear it on AM 560/FM 87.7 on MemphiSport Live.

Central BBQ (all three locations) will be closed Monday, July 1 all day. In other news, I’ve heard that Downtown Central has a couple of locally brewed High Cotton beers for the next couple of weeks.

The Nuh-Uh Girl (last seen on this blog in a tube top) texted me tonight and told me poker night at the Mad Earl is definitely worth checking out. 6:30 and 8:30 Mondays.

Home after Pint Nite at the Saucer. I stopped by Blind Bear where Ruffin cooked me some excellent blackened fish with sides of pepper jack mac & cheese and green beans. Few more bites then off to bed.

We lost two Memphis legends over the weekend. Blues, soul and R&B singer Bobby “Blue” Bland passed away at the age of 83. Bland was a member of the Blues Hall of Fame (inducted 1981) and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (inducted 1992).

This morning, one of the biggest names in Memphis wrestling, Jackie Fargo, died at the age of 85. Fargo held many tag team titles in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He was the originator of the “Fargo Strut,” and he served as a mentor to younger wrestlers including Jerry Lawler, Steve Keirn, and Stan Lane.

The Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission recently sent a letter to bars telling them to stop serving infused drinks. This would include sangria and other beverages infused with fruit, bacon-infused martinis, and vodka infused with candy. The law has been on the books since 2006 but up until now has not been enforced. Pretty stupid law if you ask me.

Speaking of the ABC, I know for a fact they’ve been sending people to Memphis bars recently who are underage or have expired IDs. Be extra careful if you’re a server or bartender.

If you’re a server looking for a job, Trolley Stop Market is hiring. They’re looking for people who are happy, energetic, and punctual. If interested apply in person after 2 PM any day this week. The market is on Madison in the Edge neighborhood. Their food is great and from what I hear, the place stays pretty busy, so it would likely be a good place to work.

My friend Air Traffic Mike, pictured here celebrating Tube Top Month, gave me a good tip that I thought I’d pass along. He went to George Paul’s Last Call, which is the back bar of Blues City Cafe on Second Street. It shares a menu with Blues City. Air Traffic Mike ordered a grilled cheese off the kids’ menu and dipped it in chili. Mmmm that sounds good.

Beer news: The Cash Saver on Madison is having a beer and hot sauce tasting from 4:30 to 6:30 PM this afternoon. Customers will get to try free samples of Brooklyn Brewery beers as well as Crazy Good Hot Sauce. Of course, the beer tasting is 21 and up, so bring your ID. Free hot sauce? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

In my Saturday post, I forgot to blog about the excellent late-night snack I had Friday. More and more City Market is becoming my go-to place for food – according to Foursquare I’ve been there 21 of the past 60 days. Last week they added a new summer item which is excellent. The curry chicken boti roll with yogurt Raita is available in their grab & go cooler. Really, really tasty. A little spicy but not too much, and that yogurt for dipping is out of this world.

Save the date for next Sunday: On June 30 Kooky Canuck will have its annual Canada Day celebration. They’ll have $3 Canadian bottled beer and $4 Forty Creek whisky, along with a Canadian food menu. This is one of the best days of the year at Kooky. There will be lots of people in Canadian colors and jerseys and the event will be hosted by honorary Canadian consul to Memphis B. Lee Mallory. If you want to participate in the poutine-eating contest, sign up here.

A friend of mine who lives near the Riverside/Georgia intersection asked me to post a link to this website. Apparently a number of residents in that area oppose the variance that is being requested to re-zone 666 Riverside Drive, fearing it will detract from the beauty of the area and decrease property values. They believe that a storage facility and a drive-thru window will harm the character of the neighborhood. I have no dog in this fight and don’t live in the area, just posting the link at the request of a friend.

Joey Styles goes off on “sports entertainment” and the WWE style of announcing on WWE Monday Night Raw

“Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner, on an episode of WCW Monday Nitro, bashes Ric Flair. Then he tells people to change the channel and watch Stone Cold on WWE, and finishes by saying WCW sucks.

Paul Heyman blasts Vince McMahon about running all the local promoters out of business

Kevin Nash calls Scott Hall a drunk on WCW Monday Nitro

C.M. Punk calls Jeff Hardy a drug addict and tells Hardy he’s going to lose to Punk. Hardy goes on to lose to Punk, and a couple of years later, gets arrested on felony drug charges and does jail time.

A couple of clips of The Rock

In other pro wrestling news… former WWF champion The Iron Sheik is putting together an Indiegogo campaign. He wants to crowd-fund $100,000 to create a documentary about the career of the Iranian legend. Donate here or else you are the jabroni like the Virgil and the Tito Santana.

Last night a bunch of us gathered at Blind Bear for our friend Misty’s birthday. Here are a few pics.

(Edit: Dammit WordPress, you broke image upload with the latest release! I can still FTP them to my site and insert from URL, but what a pain.)

Misty and the Nuh-Uh Girl

Okay, people, take notes. This is how it’s done. TUBE TOP DRESSES.

South Side Supper Club. It was my first time hearing this band perform and they are a natural fit for a speakeasy environment.

The Nuh-Uh Girl wishes Misty would hurry up and finish blowing out the candles so she can have some cupcakes to eat.

After multiple PBRs and shots of Fireball, by midnight I was DONE. I wished Misty a happy birthday, thanked host Chad for a wonderful party, and made my way home. Thank goodness I know when it’s time to hit the off switch. I don’t try really hard to stay out and end up puking on myself while sitting on a bar stool or getting thrown out of multiple bars in one night. Most of all, thank goodness I don’t get behind the wheel after 12-13 hours of drinking and endanger the lives of others. For those who do engage in such behavior, here’s a list of AA meetings today in Memphis.

And now it’s Sunday Fun Day. I don’t know if this Sunday will be like the last one, but if it works out that way, this is what Pete will be thinking:

Before I get started with today’s news, I want to share a story. Last night I was hanging out at the Flying Saucer (shocking, I know), standing in my usual spot. There was a couple in the first two seats at the bar, and after a while they came over and introduced themselves. “Are you the blogger?” they asked. “We relocated to Memphis from San Diego. We decided to move Downtown because of your blog, and a lot of the things we do down here are things you recommend on your blog.”

That absolutely made my day. Getting feedback like that means so much more to me than winning Best Blog poll awards. From time to time I get asked if I get paid to write this blog. I do not. I write this blog because I have lived Downtown since February 2002 and love it down here. Great shopping, great dining, great entertainment… but more importantly, it’s the people I have met over the past 11 years that make Downtown a home to me. In this blog I try to share why I like Downtown so much through my own personal experiences. When, through doing that, I convince cool people to come down here to live or to have fun, it makes me very happy.

Oh, and one more thing… there’s excellent tube top watching Downtown. Don’t want to leave that out.

One piece of advice for newcomers to Downtown and to Memphis: Go to a Memphis Redbirds game. AutoZone Park is consistently named as one of the best, if not the best, ballparks in the minor leagues, and some of the park’s facilities (for example the huge video board) make major-league teams jealous. An 8-game homestand opens tonight with a game against the Iowa Cubs at 6:05. There will be fireworks after the game. Gates open at 4:50 and Christian rock band Satellites & Sirens performs on the plaza at 5. Fact about AutoZone Park: It is the only ballpark in the minor leagues where the hot dog is not the top-selling food item; here, BBQ nachos outsell hot dogs.

What’s happened to the Memphis Farmers Market calendar? They used to have detailed announcements of live music, featured produce, and other entertainment for each Saturday. Now it’s just generic “Market Day” listings.

Double J Smokehouse and Saloon is having more fun stuff on their patio tonight. The Eddie Smith Band will play in the parking lot from 8 to 12, and cornhole boards will be out.

Plans for today: I’ll start off at Panda’s bar at Bardog as usual at 11 AM. Tonight should be fun. A friend is having a birthday party at the Blind Bear, and looking at the Facebook list of who’s attending, it’s more or less the people who used to play trivia as the Rapscallions plus the people who play poker at the Downtown bars. I’m one of several people who bridges both of those crowds, so it should be a fun night indeed.